June 20, 2014

Beyond the First Wave of Health Apps and Sensors Comes the Second Wave of Biotech Features for Displays

According to an industry report, convergence displays based on biotechnology are now in development. As biotechnology is applied to displays, simply watching television will be able to remove face wrinkles and give the effect of basking in the sun. TVs and tablet PCs will evolve into multi-devices for health. The first biotechnology features coming to displays are expected to kill or reduce touchscreen bacteria.

Today we learned that Apple's new wearable device that is rumored to be coming to market this fall will incorporate up to ten sensors with many of them relating to health and fitness capabilities that will support Apple's coming Health App that will debut with iOS 8. Some of these sensors were revealed yesterday in new Apple patent applications filed with the US Patent Office.

While the first wave of advanced health related sensors have already arrived on mobile devices with more arriving this fall, we now see a second wave of health related technologies on the horizon. The second wave involves biotechnology features coming to mobile displays.

Anti-Bacterial Displays

According to a new report, LG Display is conducting research to develop an anti-bacterial display that will kill germs or at least prevents the propagation of germs. Not to be outdone, Corning recently announced during Computex in Taipei that they'll be launching a new antimicrobial version of their Gorilla Glass in the not-too-distant future.

Joydeep Lahiri, division vice president and program director, Specialty Surfaces at Corning stated during Computex that their "antimicrobial technology is based on ionic silver. Ionic silver's antimicrobial properties have been known for thousands of years. Ionic silver is incorporated into Gorilla Glass through an ionic exchange mechanism." He also stressed that the ionic silver is embedded in the glass and can never be scratched off, and that the ionic silver does not compromise the Gorilla Glass' strength. Lahrir's demonstration showed that 70% less bacteria on a mobile device display is achievable.

Vitamin D Delivery through Display Ultraviolet Rays

LG is also developing a display that utilizes rays of certain wavelengths to suppress skin trouble like acnes and regenerate the skin. They further noted that the time will come when it will be unnecessary to use expensive functional cosmetics for skincare or take vitamin D supplements separately with the use of next generational display implanting biotechnology.

It was also noted that Samsung Display is developing a display that helps make vitamin D that modern people are most deficient in. A certain wavelength light among ultraviolet rays helps the skin form vitamin D. Samsung is using this principle to develop a technology for emitting certain rays from the edges of the display. This technology naturally penetrates the skin while viewers are watching TV or using a tablet and synthesizes vitamin D indoors.

The company is also studying a display that uses the near infrared ray wavelength based on a similar principle to improve wrinkles on the skin and reinforce whitening and elasticity of the skin.

Interestingly the report noted that "Samsung Display has already finished their clinical testing for some products and is now preparing to commercialize them." Delivering health benefits through your display is just around the corner.

If these next generation displays actually prove to deliver the expected benefits as outlined in this report, then we can fully expect to see future Apple iDevices and Macs incorporating some of these features and benefits.

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